A closer look back at No. 4 Purdue's 68-65 loss at Indiana Thursday night.
ROBERT PHINISEE'S BASKETS
• The play that got Indiana going, Trevion Williams has the ball on the block vs. Michael Durr with his back turned to Robert Phinisee, who's with Eric Hunter in the corner. Williams holds it a long time, makes a few pass fakes. As soon as he seems to be putting the ball on the floor to go at Durr, Phinisee makes his move, knocks the ball away, then gets back and makes a three at the other end matched up with Caleb Furst in transition D after IU set a quick high screen on Hunter to get Phinisee space. Phinisee Points off Turnovers: 3
• High ball screen. Phinisee again gets Isaiah Thompson on his back then hits a particularly bold step-back three. Does Indiana even want him taking that shot?
• Indiana gets Ethan Morton on Phinisee in a switch, IU seals off Isaiah Thompson from helping once Phinisee goes past Morton and Edey is a step late to the rim, but Phinisee's reverse finish is a tough one.
• Phinisee steals Morton's dart of a pass into the post and pushes the ball up the floor, finishing high off the glass over Morton for an and-one. Phinisee Points off Turnovers: 5
• After a Purdue make, Jaden Ivey's on Phinisee in transition matching up, and IU runs another quick ball screen for him with Mason Gillis' guy. Phinisee takes another three that you only take when you're hot and makes it. Bad switch there by Purdue.
• Trevion Williams winds up driving and spinning after Trey Galloway destroys a DHO to Sasha Stefanovic. Williams loses the ball and Phinisee scores on a fast break. Phinisee Points off Turnovers: 7
• Indiana just throws a quick side screen at Isaiah Thompson, getting Phinisee a head of steam and he makes an acrobatic finish between three scrambling Boilermakers. IU did have some success here eliminating Purdue's help options by cutting the floor in half and attacking the baselines.
DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWNS
Purdue just didn't do a good job stopping the ball after Indiana set ball screens and gave their guards space.
Matt Painter made mention of the big guys playing to challenging shots at the basket rather than stopping the ball, and here's a golden example, albeit not really in a ball screen situation.
I have no idea what's going on here.
Indiana reverses the ball to Xavier Johnson in the corner, catching Eric Hunter at too bad an angle to cut off the drive baseline. Zach Edey comes off a seal from Race Thompson with plenty of time to cut Johnson off. He does not, seemingly trying instead of block the shot Johnson was setting up. Johnson scores on a reverse layup. All Edey had to do was close off Johnson's path and this drive goes nowhere.
In the second half, after Purdue opened with back to back threes, IU crossed Purdue up with this continuous screen for Xavier Johnson, where Race Thompson set the initial screen on Isaiah Thompson, funneling the ball into Trayce Jackson-Davis' screen. Mason Gillis and Zach Edey both leaned outside while Johnson cut back inside and beat everyone to the rim for a lay-up.
(We are now at the inexplicably bolded portion of our review.)
(Indiana runs that same continuous screening action later, but Johnson reverses it and blows past Ethan Morton into the lane, forcing Isaiah Thompson into help and setting up Trey Galloway's driving turnaround on the recovering Thompson.)
Next time down, another ball screen for Xavier Johnson, with Zach Edey in Purdue's usual drop coverage with its 5. The pass here to the corner to Race Thompson is wide open. Purdue's happy to let Thompson shoot that shot — it conceded it from the opening tip — but the ideal situation here is for Purdue to get Johnson bottled up and not allow that pass to be made so easily.
The pass is made, Mason Gillis closes out, Thompson drives on him and hits a fallaway jumper.
Next time down, and this remains the simplest form of offense, IU just sets a high ball screen on Jaden Ivey to get Xavier Johnson some space, putting Zach Edey on an island because of how high the screen was set. Johnson has no problem using his head of steam to go past Edey in space, allowing him to drive and drop to Race Thompson for a dunk after Gillis came over to help.
When Trevion Williams replaced Edey around the 12-minute mark, Purdue started hedging the screen, but Williams was called for a bump the first time he did it.
Indiana did give Purdue some problems playing Xavier Johnson and Rob Phinisee together, and you wonder if some of that was the by-product of Illinois having success against Purdue with multiple point guards on the floor.
MISC
• Indiana's game plan on Trevion Williams seemed to be to not bring a double until he put the ball on the floor, once he seemed to make his decision whether to pass or attack.
• Big swing: Jaden Ivey goes to the line for an and-one that would have brought Purdue within three. He misses the foul shot and it clearly goes off an Indiana shoe and out of bounds. It's ruled Indiana ball without review and Xavier Johnson hits a three at the other end. Now a seven-point game again.
• Purdue's turnover with 5:47 left in the first half that wound up leading to a Jordan Geronimo turnover might have the moment where the Boilermakers looked shook. Tamar Bates was mildly pressuring Eric Hunter, whose pass to Trevion Williams was just bad. Wasn't quite a bounce pass, wasn't quite a non-bounce pass. Low. Went through Williams' hands.
• Looked like Purdue moved Ethan Morton onto Xavier Johnson and Isaiah Thompson onto Trey Galloway — that would seem backwards — for a while there, maybe trying to pre-empt switches, I don't know.
• So many balls just going right through Purdue's hands, or Purdue guards not attacking the ball to grab it off the glass.
• While Purdue was getting stops down the stretch, Stefanovic, Ivey and Isaiah Thompson all decent looks from three that would have vaulted the Boilermakers into the lead. Couldn't get any timely shooting at those times.
Purdue actually did a good job executing offensively when it wasn't turning the ball over. It got the shots it wanted often. Just didn't make as many as it needed to.
• Maybe Trevion Williams lost that ball on the way up? Only explanation I can think of.
• I don't know what Jim Jackson's talking about about Purdue going over the screen on Phinisee's last shot. You do that and you are basically chasing him to a wide open baseline, with Race Thompson diving to the rim alongside him, at the end of a game where Indiana has killed you all game driving baseline. Stefanovic just didn't get through the screen quick enough and Phinisee made a YOLO shot.
Anyway ...
ROBERT PHINISEE'S BASKETS
• The play that got Indiana going, Trevion Williams has the ball on the block vs. Michael Durr with his back turned to Robert Phinisee, who's with Eric Hunter in the corner. Williams holds it a long time, makes a few pass fakes. As soon as he seems to be putting the ball on the floor to go at Durr, Phinisee makes his move, knocks the ball away, then gets back and makes a three at the other end matched up with Caleb Furst in transition D after IU set a quick high screen on Hunter to get Phinisee space. Phinisee Points off Turnovers: 3
• High ball screen. Phinisee again gets Isaiah Thompson on his back then hits a particularly bold step-back three. Does Indiana even want him taking that shot?
• Indiana gets Ethan Morton on Phinisee in a switch, IU seals off Isaiah Thompson from helping once Phinisee goes past Morton and Edey is a step late to the rim, but Phinisee's reverse finish is a tough one.
• Phinisee steals Morton's dart of a pass into the post and pushes the ball up the floor, finishing high off the glass over Morton for an and-one. Phinisee Points off Turnovers: 5
• After a Purdue make, Jaden Ivey's on Phinisee in transition matching up, and IU runs another quick ball screen for him with Mason Gillis' guy. Phinisee takes another three that you only take when you're hot and makes it. Bad switch there by Purdue.
• Trevion Williams winds up driving and spinning after Trey Galloway destroys a DHO to Sasha Stefanovic. Williams loses the ball and Phinisee scores on a fast break. Phinisee Points off Turnovers: 7
• Indiana just throws a quick side screen at Isaiah Thompson, getting Phinisee a head of steam and he makes an acrobatic finish between three scrambling Boilermakers. IU did have some success here eliminating Purdue's help options by cutting the floor in half and attacking the baselines.
DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWNS
Purdue just didn't do a good job stopping the ball after Indiana set ball screens and gave their guards space.
Matt Painter made mention of the big guys playing to challenging shots at the basket rather than stopping the ball, and here's a golden example, albeit not really in a ball screen situation.
I have no idea what's going on here.
Indiana reverses the ball to Xavier Johnson in the corner, catching Eric Hunter at too bad an angle to cut off the drive baseline. Zach Edey comes off a seal from Race Thompson with plenty of time to cut Johnson off. He does not, seemingly trying instead of block the shot Johnson was setting up. Johnson scores on a reverse layup. All Edey had to do was close off Johnson's path and this drive goes nowhere.
In the second half, after Purdue opened with back to back threes, IU crossed Purdue up with this continuous screen for Xavier Johnson, where Race Thompson set the initial screen on Isaiah Thompson, funneling the ball into Trayce Jackson-Davis' screen. Mason Gillis and Zach Edey both leaned outside while Johnson cut back inside and beat everyone to the rim for a lay-up.
(We are now at the inexplicably bolded portion of our review.)
(Indiana runs that same continuous screening action later, but Johnson reverses it and blows past Ethan Morton into the lane, forcing Isaiah Thompson into help and setting up Trey Galloway's driving turnaround on the recovering Thompson.)
Next time down, another ball screen for Xavier Johnson, with Zach Edey in Purdue's usual drop coverage with its 5. The pass here to the corner to Race Thompson is wide open. Purdue's happy to let Thompson shoot that shot — it conceded it from the opening tip — but the ideal situation here is for Purdue to get Johnson bottled up and not allow that pass to be made so easily.
The pass is made, Mason Gillis closes out, Thompson drives on him and hits a fallaway jumper.
Next time down, and this remains the simplest form of offense, IU just sets a high ball screen on Jaden Ivey to get Xavier Johnson some space, putting Zach Edey on an island because of how high the screen was set. Johnson has no problem using his head of steam to go past Edey in space, allowing him to drive and drop to Race Thompson for a dunk after Gillis came over to help.
When Trevion Williams replaced Edey around the 12-minute mark, Purdue started hedging the screen, but Williams was called for a bump the first time he did it.
Indiana did give Purdue some problems playing Xavier Johnson and Rob Phinisee together, and you wonder if some of that was the by-product of Illinois having success against Purdue with multiple point guards on the floor.
MISC
• Indiana's game plan on Trevion Williams seemed to be to not bring a double until he put the ball on the floor, once he seemed to make his decision whether to pass or attack.
• Big swing: Jaden Ivey goes to the line for an and-one that would have brought Purdue within three. He misses the foul shot and it clearly goes off an Indiana shoe and out of bounds. It's ruled Indiana ball without review and Xavier Johnson hits a three at the other end. Now a seven-point game again.
• Purdue's turnover with 5:47 left in the first half that wound up leading to a Jordan Geronimo turnover might have the moment where the Boilermakers looked shook. Tamar Bates was mildly pressuring Eric Hunter, whose pass to Trevion Williams was just bad. Wasn't quite a bounce pass, wasn't quite a non-bounce pass. Low. Went through Williams' hands.
• Looked like Purdue moved Ethan Morton onto Xavier Johnson and Isaiah Thompson onto Trey Galloway — that would seem backwards — for a while there, maybe trying to pre-empt switches, I don't know.
• So many balls just going right through Purdue's hands, or Purdue guards not attacking the ball to grab it off the glass.
• While Purdue was getting stops down the stretch, Stefanovic, Ivey and Isaiah Thompson all decent looks from three that would have vaulted the Boilermakers into the lead. Couldn't get any timely shooting at those times.
Purdue actually did a good job executing offensively when it wasn't turning the ball over. It got the shots it wanted often. Just didn't make as many as it needed to.
• Maybe Trevion Williams lost that ball on the way up? Only explanation I can think of.
• I don't know what Jim Jackson's talking about about Purdue going over the screen on Phinisee's last shot. You do that and you are basically chasing him to a wide open baseline, with Race Thompson diving to the rim alongside him, at the end of a game where Indiana has killed you all game driving baseline. Stefanovic just didn't get through the screen quick enough and Phinisee made a YOLO shot.
Anyway ...
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